Colorado Rockies Ezequiel Tovar (right) is thrilled after hitting a double as Sacramento A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson holds the baseball in the bottom of the second inning at Coors Field on Sun Apr 6, 2025 (AP News photo)

Soderstrom, Butler, and the Long Ball Show, but A’s Fall in Coors Field Slugfest

By Mauricio Segura

The thin air of Coors Field once again served as a launchpad, but this time, it launched the Athletics straight into a granite wall of Rockies offense, cold and unmovable like the mountains behind them. Despite continuing their season-long home run streak and getting early fireworks from Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler, the green and gold dropped Sunday’s rubber match to the Rockies, 12-5.

Tyler Soderstrom wasted no time extending the A’s power streak to ten games, the longest season-opening run in franchise history. With two outs in the top of the first, Soderstrom’s two-run blast to right, his fourth of the season, gave the Athletics an early 2-0 lead and showcased the rookie’s knack for clutch power. He now leads the club in go-ahead homers.

Rookie starter Joey Estes, looking to rebound from a rough Opening Day outing, was once again roughed up. He gave up six runs across three innings, including a solo shot to Brenton Doyle in the bottom of the first. Doyle wasn’t done either. His two-run double in the second turned the tide and ignited a five-run Colorado rally that knocked the A’s on their heels.

Estes, who tied a career high by allowing nine hits in his previous start, couldn’t find rhythm in his Coors debut. After his ERA ballooned to 13.50, manager Mark Kotsay handed the reins to Mitch Spence in the fourth. Spence fared little better, yielding another run as Tovar and Doyle, Colorado’s 1-2 punch, continued to hammer the gaps.

Still, the A’s weren’t entirely silenced. Lawrence Butler, red-hot this series, crushed his first homer of the season in the fifth, a no-doubter to center that briefly narrowed the gap to 7-4. It was Butler’s sixth hit in two games, part of a much-needed turnaround for the outfielder who started the season batting .167 through seven games.

Miguel Andujar added three hits, including an RBI single in the fourth. The left fielder, who entered the game on a modest three-game hitting streak, quietly continues to be one of the A’s more consistent bats, now batting .304.

But whatever momentum the Athletics generated was flattened in the bottom of the eighth. The Rockies sent ten men to the plate, piling on five runs against Spence and T.J. McFarland. Ezequiel Tovar, who doubled twice and drove in three, delivered a two-run single in the inning to put the game out of reach. By the time Hunter Goodman’s two-run knock made it 12-4, the damage was done.

The A’s added one more in the ninth on Butler’s RBI single, but that was little consolation in a game where pitching woes once again told the story. Estes is now winless in his last four starts dating back to 2024, and Spence has surrendered ten earned runs over 6.2 innings this year.

Notably, Jacob Wilson’s contact streak ended after 33 plate appearances without a strikeout. He finally struck out, fanning once in the first inning and again in the ninth to end a remarkable run, the longest by an Athletic since Billy Burns in 2016. Wilson did add a single earlier in the game, extending his season-opening hit streak to ten games.

The loss dropped the Athletics to 4-6, still trying to find consistency after being swept at home by the Cubs. They’ll return to Sutter Health Park Monday to open a six-game homestand, starting with a series against the Padres. Luis Severino is expected to take the mound, still in search of his first win in green and gold.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.